Miracoli che diventa realtà
by Invincible Shadow
Summary: Sakura's the girl who has everything-loving friends,good grades,incredible talents.But there is something underneath the surface-a broken,lonely girl who only wishes for peaceful solitude and a box of tissues to wipe tears with.  Will Akatsuki change her?
1. Chapter 1

"_Did you see that new girl? She thinks she's all that, prancing around as if she owns the place!"_

"_I know, right! And look at her hair! It's obviously dyed!"_

"_Yeah! I mean, who would have such fucked up genes to get natural pink hair?"_

"_Che. Judging by the way she looks, I'd hazard a guess that if anyone is fucked up enough to have pink hair, it's her."_

The rosette in question simply ignored the rumours and whispers which seemed to spread faster than disease. She simply walked through the hallways, chin raised up defiantly, her posture laid back. Today was her first day. The thought didn't cause her to panic or twitch. She was Haruno Sakura and Haruno Sakura does not run or hide.

'_The best way out is always through'_ she reminded herself.

Whispers and gossips about her persona be damned. She wasn't concerned about her social status. Teasing or bullying? Hell no. Her father made it his own, personal goal before he died, to make sure that if anything came up, she would be able to handle herself. Wasn't that what all those Martial Arts medals and achievement certificates were for?  
>She had to say, as much as she disliked her father before the 'accident' he did her a great favour by signing her up for all different sorts of clubs. It helped to distract her.<p>

Sakura smirked. Her best friend in her old school, Karin, always asked her how on Earth she managed all that without getting overstressed. She sometimes agreed with the peculiar redhead.  
>Even Sakura, as much as she enjoyed learning new things, even she thought that her father went a bit over the top.<p>

**A **_**bit!**_**? He went over the top by far! Stupid bastard.**

_Inner, calm yourself._

**Alright, fine. But seriously; ballet, piano, Martial Arts, painting, singing, Italian, French **_**and**_** Latin classes are a bit **_**too**_** much for a normal sixteen-year-olds.**

_Good thing we're not normal, then._

**Che, right.**

_Goshers, I already miss Karin._

Though Sakura herself didn't understand how Karin became her frie- Hell, practically _sister_- she just was. Karin was the kind of girl who liked her boy-toys rough, liked fun and breaking any and all kinds of laws or rules. She didn't care one bit for her education, saying that when she became an actress she would not need it.  
>Though Sakura often ridiculed her for her one-sided thinking, she knew that Karin was more than capable of making that come true. As straight as the rosette was, she had to agree that her best friend-slash-sister was <em>smokin'<em> _hot_.

According to said redhead, Sakura was even better. She wasn't _hot_, she was _sexy_ – waist-long pink tresses, almost always topped with a black beanie which Sakura absolutely _adored_, most often black skinny jeans-the rosette _**loathed**_ skirts- and some loose dark band t-shirt together with her old, leather, black gave her the incredible bad-ass look which most boys went gaga over.

She was one smexy mama.

But now, there would be no more of sitting on benches smoking cigarettes with Suigetsu and Juugo, no more awesome street racing with Kimimaro. The thought almost made her cry.

Now it was the- _boring boring __**boring**_- supposedly 'prestigious' _Konoha_ _High_.

**Prestigious my ass, buddy. I prefer Sound than this shithole any time. It's just too… **_**clean**_**.**

Sakura agreed with her Inner wholeheartedly. _Sound High_ with its single-floor blocks and corridors packed with girls wearing close to nothing and boys trying to constantly chat up anything with a pulse and a vagina, _Konoha High_, with its white walls and spacious halls looked almost like a hospital.

_A hospital for stuck-up rich brats, mind you._

She almost laughed. That's right. Trust Sakura to find amusement in the weirdest things possible. That's just how she was.

Sakura came to a halt. Room 301. That's her stop.

She almost snorted. Even without a map, she managed to find the class in what, less than ten minutes? Forget the fact that the bell already rung – she was awesome!

So, with one final sigh, Sakura pushed the door open. As expected, all eyes automatically snapped to her, some widening and bugging out of their sockets. So what if she wasn't one of your '_everyday girls'_? She was unique and she was bloody proud of that. Period.

"Ah, I believe you're our new student." The supposed homeroom teacher stated.

**Does he expect us to answer this?**

_Maybe, but I'mma going to rebel. I'm keeping quiet._

**Good girl.**

Noticing her silence, the premature-grey man smiled. At least Sakura thought he smiled. His creepy mask covered ¾ of his face.

"Well, sit wherever you like."

Sakura did just that and looked around the room, trying to find a good seat. A second later her gaze fell on the table for three at the back of the class, and more importantly, the raven haired boy which sat in one of the seats.

**C-Chicken-ass-kun?**

_No way…_

It seemed as if the boy heard her thoughts and looked up. His eyes widened and he stood up. For a second there was major confusion in the room as of why did Sasuke stand up, but it all came clear when he walked over to the new girl, staring her in the eyes, and…

…

…

He _**hugged**_ her!

For a second, nothing made sense, the rosette looked just as surprised, but then she smiled beautifully and returned the hug. She was acutely aware that the entire class was staring at her with a mix of horror or admiration. She grinned and pulled back from the hug.

"So, how've you been, Sasuke?" she asked, still grinning madly.

The corner of the boy's mouth turned upwards. "Fine. The dobe always complained that he missed you, though."

More shocked stares. Inner Sakura smirked.

"I think we should sit down, I can literally _feel_ a metaphorical hole being burned through the back of my head by one of your fangirls."

Sasuke snorted. "Sasuke." The rosette warned. He sighed and led her to the back table.

When they sat down, Kakashi cleared his throat, getting the attention of the still shell-shocked class.

The raven-haired boy turned face Sakura. She grinned. He smirked. "So, how are you doing, lover-boy?" she teased.

Sasuke growled at her, "I told you to stop referring to me with that _pathetic_ nickname."

"Oh, come on! You know you love it!" the rosette chuckled. Sasuke was the only one who could make her laugh so effortlessly.

Suddenly there was a loud _thunk!_ and all heads turned as the door once again slammed into the wall.  
>A blur of orange and yellow appeared in Sakura's peripheral vision.<p>

"_TEME!_ _YOU STUPID BASTARD YOU_-! Sakura?" what Sakura finally realised was a boy, stopped mid-rant and stared at her. For a second everything was silent, save for the scraping of Sakura's chair legs as she stood up and out-stretched her arms in an inviting hug. The blonde didn't need more.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

Sakura just laughed as the boy once again became a blur as he literally _threw_ himself at her, enveloping her in a fierce hug. He would never drop the childish nickname. Evah.

Kakashi had to give the girl props; Naruto's hugs could _kill_ with the power he put behind them, but the rosette didn't even stagger. She just stood there, letting the only orange-tracksuit-wearing-high-schooler-in-the-world hug the daylights out of her.

It was quite funny, really. Sakura was originally from Japan, but she and her father emigrated when she was five, which was when the last one of her parents' divorce papers was finally signed.

When she came to Toronto, all she was concerned about was that she wouldn't find anyone her age to have an intelligent conversation with. Looking back at it now, she almost laughed. Even at the age of five, all she cared about was her intelligence and capability of surviving on her own.

_**!Flashback!**_

"_Come on, Sakura. Go play with the other kids, live a little." Naoko Haruno told his daughter._

_He was worried and over-stressed, the little girl in front of him could easily say that much, so with a sigh, she nodded and left the house. _

_She wandered along the streets, finally coming to a stop when she found the playground. She stared at it for a moment, not going in. That's when she spotted the swing set and she set off to her personal target. She approached the swings carefully, almost frighteningly. The five-year-old Sakura lowered herself onto the swing seat, only to be shoved off quite roughly the next second. She turned slightly, looking up at the small boy who'd shoved her off. He was gorgeous, except for the tiny frown which was etched on his marble-like forehead._

_Suddenly, a boy who looked to be around thirteen run up to the boy and poked him roughly in the forehead. "Sasuke, that was incredibly rude. Have you forgotten your manners?" _

_Sakura guessed that the two boys must have been brothers, because the similarity was too big for it to be a coincidence._

_The older boy knelt down to her level. "I apologise for my little brother. He had just been reprimanded by our Father, he's still a bit upset." The boy explained. "Here, let me help you up."_

_He proceeded to pull the tiny rosette to her feet. Sakura shook her head and dusted herself off. "I do not mind, though next time I would like him to just tell me to get off. My bum hurts" She frowned, rubbing her backside, before blushing furiously and extending her hand. "Sorry. I'm Sakura."_

"_Itachi." The boy-Itachi-replied, shaking her hand and fixing her with a quick smile, but his eyes showed that he was surprised. Because he was. This girl, who looked to be approximately the same age as Sasuke had spoken with so much defiance and… understanding in her voice that he almost gasped. She was smart. __**Very**__ smart._

"_Brother, can we go yet? I'm bored." _

_The rosette jumped. In the process of dusting herself off and admiring the older boy in front of her (come on, he was cute!) she completely forgot about the smaller raven. _

_Itachi just shook his head and smiled at Sakura._

_She smiled back._

"_Sasuke! Come and find me!"_

"_Sakura, just give up already. You're probably in some random, easy-to-find place. Come out."_

"_~Noooo!" the rosette sang, "Naruto and Itachi helped me hide! You'll never find me!"_

"_Really? Look down."_

_The now seven-year-old Sakura did as told and looked down. She shrieked when she saw her friend's raven hairdo poking out beneath her, and his know-it-all grin._

"_Told you."_

_**!Flashback!**_

From day one, their friendship blossomed and strengthened, and when Sakura thought back to that day, she could only smile. She didn't see Itachi anymore. Something changed when he left Sasuke to go study abroad. He dropped all contact. Totally cut himself off. So, Sakura cut him off as well.

Suddenly, the bell rang and Sakura sprang from her seat. Naruto grinned at her. "So, how's your little Corvette?" he asked.

He was referring to Sakura's old test subject. She called it her 'test subject' because she bought it second-hand from some hippie three years previous when she had her '_tinkering'_ phase. She liked cars and engines and over the course of three months she transferred the twelve-year-old, rusted sardine tin, into a beautiful, sleek masterpiece, with a 4.2 litre engine.

She loved that car. But, its days had come to an end when she decided to sell it.

"It's a goner now. A very profitable goner, but still a goner."

It took a few seconds for the words to sink in. "You _sold_ it?"

"Yah. I have a Porsche Carrera GT now. It's awesome."

For a moment the boy whom she'd come to call an almost brother just stared at her, before his face split with a grin.

"I still can't believe you transferred to Konoha High! Believe it!"

Sasuke whacked him over the head. "Hn, dobe. Stop being so loud."

Naruto pouted. "How come you're always nice to Sakura? Huh? Huh!"

"Because she isn't annoying."

Naruto froze. "Uchiha Sasuke… Did you just _compliment_ someone?"

They were in the cafeteria now, and Naruto's shout echoed around for everyone to hear.

As if in slow motion, all heads turned towards them.

Some snorted and turned back, some eyed Sakura with very appreciative looks on their faces, while others simply laughed at the impossibility of the statement.

But only one group actually stepped forward.

Sasuke made a kind of hissing sound and stepped slightly in front of Sakura, while Naruto tensed beside her.

"What's your problem, chibi Itachi? Why hide your friend away from us? She's _fineee_."

Sakura growled. No one talked about her like that. Or if they did, they got her spare screwdriver shoved none-too-gently up their ass. She peaked out from behind Sasuke and noticed that the guy who spoke had _blue _skin and something which looked like gills tattooed on his cheeks. i.e.: he looked like a fish.

"Piss off, Hoshikagi." Sasuke threatened.

"Why should I? I bet I could show pinky a good time."

Sakura had enough. She stepped out from behind Sasuke and fixed the over-sized walking fish with her most menacing glare. Seriously, it could kill puppies.

"Sorry, Fish-stick, I'm not interested in sea-food." she stated calmly.

The boy went purple and glared at her, while the blonde next to him bent over, clutching his stomach and laughing loudly, soon joined by a guy with slicked back silver hair.

"Freak."

"Says the one with _blue_ skin." Sakura retorted.

"Is hiding behind sarcasm everything you can do, pink-bitch?"

"I hide behind sarcasm because telling you to go fuck yourself is considered rude in most social situations."

Needless to say, the whole cafeteria's attention was once again on her, and all the boys who'd heard her were now either: rolling around on the floor laughing their heads off, smirking or quietly chuckling.

Only Sasuke looked horrified.

**Remember, he's not used to this side of us. **

_I know. And I plan on showing him exactly what this side is capable of. _

**Agreed.**

By now, fish-face had managed to walk right over to her, so much that she had to tilt her head to look at his face. He was tall…

"Say one more thing, I dare you." He hissed

With a smirk, Sakura lifted up her hand in a mock-wave. "Hi."

Almost too quickly for anyone to notice, the guy's fist flew straight at Sakura's pixie-like chin, but the rosette was quicker.

She caught Kisame's fist with ease and grimaced at him.

"So eager to fight, huh? You'll need to think of a much more challenging than this to get me."

Suddenly, Kisame smirked. "You want a challenge, do you? Well then, I have just the thing." He leaned towards her. "You. Me. Sports Hall. After school."

"What're we gonna do?"

"Kendo. Let's see how you get out of that."

For a moment, Sakura didn't answer. She didn't care if she got in trouble on her first day, she was just slightly surprised that he knew the sport. It was one of the most popular Japanese sword-fighting styles a few decades previous, so…

"Afraid?"

Sakura glared. "You wish."

She realised that Kisame was still waiting for her reply, so, ignoring Sasuke's glare of 'don't you dare', she said the two words that would change everything.

"I accept."

**Do you likey? Do you?**

**How was it? Good? Bad? Horrible?**

**Tell meh! Pwease!**

**Lots of love,**

**(and web cookies for anyone who reviews!)**

**REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I apologise for the extremely long wait, and I promise that it won't happen again! This chapter isn't half as good as I wanted it to be, but it's better than nothing, so,**

**ENJOY!**

As Sakura walked down the halls at the end of the day, she could not help but smirk at the awed/surprised/hateful/you-are-_**God**_ expressions. The word about her challenging the fish-like senior spread around impossibly quickly. It was hilarious.

At that point, her phone chose to ring.

_I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother I'm a sinner I'm a saint, I do not feel ashamed. _

She ignored the curious looks and took out her phone, immediately grinning at the caller's ID which greeted her.

'_Yo, sexy!' _

"Suigetsu. I do not want your girlfriend down my throat. I would rather live long enough to get enough money to get mah Bugatti Veyron."

'_Come on, Sakura! Live a little! And seriously, is that all you ever think about, cars?'_

"That and how much I miss Kimmi's vodka and coke shots. If you get my drift."

There was chuckling on the other side.

'_Sakura, you're probably the weirdest, yet coolest girl I've ever met. And that includes my awesome girlfriend.'_

"Aw, I try, lover-boy."

'_And god knows you succeed. Anyway, whatcha doing now?'_

"Going to kick your cousin's ass."

'_Kisame's? Good luck, Sunshine. You'll need it.'_

"Do you have so little faith in me?"

'_No. I meant good luck with the cops after they hear about a mysterious murder of a 6'5 senior.'_

"Been there, done that."

'_I'm sure. Later, Sakura.'_

"Sure, see ya."

Sakura smiled. Her first day wasn't all that bad – she found Sasuke and Naruto, realized that her old friends from Sound weren't going to leave her alone simply because she moved schools, and now she was going to kick some ass. Hell yeah.

As she walked into the gym, she could not help but grin at the crowd of people that had gathered to watch her fight with the ridiculously tall senior. Something just inside her peripheral vision caught her attention, and she turned just in time to catch the sheathed sword which was thrust at her.

"Che. Nice catch." The fish-like senior sneered.

"I try, fishy."

Kisame growled. "I'll wipe the floor with you, girly."

"Is that a threat?" Sakura asked.

"No. It's a promise."

"Oh, but all promises are meant to be broken, ne?"

* * *

><p>Kisame stared at the weird girl in front of him, bewildered. She had ridiculous pink hair, emerald eyes, a black beanie over her head, Metallica t-shirt, and black leather Dr. Martens. Probably the weirdest mix he'd ever seen.<p>

And although he was annoyed that she wasn't afraid of him, or that she didn't back down when he challenged her, he had to admit that she did have a couple redeeming qualities for the ones that annoyed the shit out of others. She had quick wit, good sense of humour, and she wasn't a prep as far as he was concerned.

God only knew how much he hated those.

Of course, a good shag here and there is wonderful, don't get him wrong, but for Kisame it wasn't all about sex. Contrary to popular belief he didn't just shag anything with a pulse and a vagina.

"Last chance to back out." He warned the rosette with a mocking grin.

She just regarded him with an uninterested expression and half-lidded eyes that made her look like she would literally die of boredom. _Che_. Kisame thought. _Her and Sasori could almost pass as twins._

"Well, feel free." Sakura answered.

Kisame ground his teeth together, and without any further warning, he attacked.

* * *

><p>Sakura inwardly snickered at the pissed off aura Kisame was giving off. She enjoyed annoying the shit out of people. It was almost as entertaining as street-racing with Kimimaro or smoking behind the school building with Karin, Suigetsu and Juugo. She felt sadness nagging at her heart strings, the realisation that the activities she'd just listed were impossible now.<p>

**We can still call them**… Inner suggested.

Sakura smirked at the thought. It brought back the memory of when Suigetsu and her prank-called one of the high-up restaurants, pretending to be half-deaf and asking for Chinese take-out.

She almost missed the blade coming at her and managed to duck just in time to avoid it.

_Shit_! She chastised herself, _Now's no time to be reminiscing!_

Focusing once more on the fight, Sakura scrutinised her opponent. His movements were as fast as lightening, and she found herself barely able to avoid being knocked off her feet. Her eyes widened. '_He's fast_.' She ducked underneath a beautifully executed swipe, before she noticed his attempt to sweep her feet out from underneath her. She instantly saw through his move and recoiled backwards. She barely had time to breath before he was on her once again, throwing swift jabs towards her face and midsection. She blocked them all with a degree of difficulty, but wasn't expecting to be swept off her feet by a low roundhouse kick which she just managed to avoid.

_I thought this was just going to be a kendo spar?_

"Hey, fishy-boy, what happened to kendo?" she yelled.

"What? Pinkie can't take the challenge? Feel free to back out!" he replied.

Sakura ground her teeth together in anger. Sakura was more than happy to show him what damage she could really do with her fists, but that would once and for all eliminate any and all chances of having friends.

_Eh, who cares? We're social outcasts anyway, who needs friends?_

And with that thought in mind, she threw her blade to the side and jumped at the tall senior, with just her fists.

_I won't let him walk over me like I'm nothing. _

* * *

><p>Kisame let out a surprised grunt as he blocked a particularly nasty punch at his abdomen and pushed the seething rosette back before she could do any serious damage.<p>

_Was she holding back before?_

But then he noticed the disregarded sword lying on the side, and smirked.

_Ah, so that just wasn't her style. Well, let's see what she can do with those tiny fists of hers'._

Slipping into the defensive stance, he beckoned her forward with two fingers. That was all the invitation she needed. Sakura jumped at him, and Kisame found himself barely managing to block her enraged swipes at his persona.

_Yes, __**block**_. He reminded himself grimly_. I won't let people see me __**duck**__ because of some measly __girl__._

He tried to think of a plan. Finally, he got one, but it wasn't as great as he would've liked. He would do nothing more than block and evade, preserving his energy and biding his time. The rosette would grow tired eventually, and then when her guard was lowered he would strike as soon as an opening presented itself. He considered it the coward's way of combat, but she was definitely the strongest opponent he'd met in a while, so he was willing to temporarily disregard his honour if it meant beating this strange slip of a girl.

But what Kisame didn't know, was that the rosette knew of his plan.

She had assessed him with those half-lidded, calculating eyes of hers' when he wasn't looking, and immediately grouped him with the _'prideful assholes'_.

_Hm. Pity. For a second I thought he would fit into the 'almost a challenge' category. Too bad._

She pretended to grow tired, and left her chest area open, knowing he would take the chance and attack.

She wasn't mistaken, and Kisame took the bait, inwardly smirking at the success of his plan.

The smirk vanished a moment later as the rosette caught his fist and brought her own straight at his nose. The sickening crunch of bone snapping out of place was heard, and a moment later blood shot down from his nose, staining his shirt.

"I win." The rosette remarked mockingly. "And you ought to get that nose checked. It looks broken."

And with one last smirk, the girl turned on her heal and started to walk off, only to hear the voice of a person she least expected.

"Here you are, yet again, breaking noses and wounding prides. You never change, do you?"

Sakura turned,smirk fuul on.

"_Ah, Neji-dear. You have no idea how __**wonderful**__ it is to see you again."_


	3. Unexpected Reunions

**I apologise for the GIANORMOUS wait. In terms of excuses, I have none. In terms of explanations… well, high-school's a bitch, and I've never been good with multitasking. So, in a way of apologies, I present you with chapter three, which scratches the surface of Sakura's past. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

><p>"<em>Ah, Neji-dear. You have no idea how <em>_**wonderful**__ it is to see you again."_

When the rosette turned, she saw just who she was expecting. Neji Hyuuga, two years her senior, and probably one of the best guys she'd ever met (sorry, Sasuke, Naruto). Also accompanied by the lazy, brown-haired Shikamaru Nara; second coolest guy on the planet at the moment.

Just like the first time she'd met them.

"And answering your question, I don't intent to make it a hobby. You know, smashing people's noses? But I do enjoy making prideful bastards eat dirt. It's very entertaining." She added with a smirk.

Shikamaru snorted. "Troublesome woman. You're scarier than my mom."

"Aw, Shika, that's mean. Yoshino is a lovely lady, don't you agree, Neji?" she asked, a malicious grin plastered on her features as she turned her gaze to the Hyuuga, who almost unnoticeably paled.

Managing a rather shaky nod, and still looking fairly sick, Neji tried to compose himself. Shikamaru, noticing his companion's lapse in said composure decided to help him out by asking what they both wanted to know.

"So, what brings you here? You were in Sound, and from what I remember, you were pretty damn happy about it. What happened?" He inquired lazily.

By now, the audience that had gathered around her and Kisame's fight had moved to observe how her conversation with the two geniuses would turn out.

"Well, karma is a bitch. On overkill, too. And as much as I enjoyed street-racing, or smoking with Kimmi & co, I can't do much about it now. What's done is done." She shrugged.

Neji, having regained his poise was now back in the conversation, a delicate brown eyebrow raised. "You do know we have an audience, right?"

Sakura faked a dumb expression, blinking owlishly at him a few times. "Gee, let me think… No shit, Sherlock."

This time, it was Neji's turn to blink. "You make absolutely no sense whatsoever, you know that?"

The rosette just gave a non-committal shrug. "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit."

Shikamaru chuckled. "You haven't changed at all. That's good. It would be a pity if you turned into one of the shallow fangirls."

Sakura looked horrified, and her face had taken on a faint green colour. "You'd sooner see a crying Neji run around the town with pink chewing-gum stuck in his hair, than me as a fangirl." Then a contemplating grin stretched across her face. "Though I think that's a pretty realistic scenario."

Shikamaru smirked and nodded in agreement. "I'm in for whatever Hyuuga-hair-torture you have in mind. It's always been fairly amusing to degrade him."

"You're both insane." Neji regarded with only a faint trace of disgust. "And hell will freeze over faster than I let you two _anywhere_ _**near**_ my hair."

Shika grinned. "This is like the first time we met, you know. Sakura and I, teamed up against you, messing with your hair."

"Yeah, but then it was a slightly _different_ way of messing with his hair." Sakura sent a sly grin toward the Nara. "And then we were all fairly intoxicated anyway."

"Hn. If by 'intoxicated', you mean 'refusing to talk face to face for some inane reason only you understood' then yes, we were intoxicated." Neji bit back.

"It was hard to talk face to face when your head was up your ass, Royal Majesty." Sakura retorted playfully.

There was a beat of silence, before all three of them burst out laughing. Well, Sakura burst out laughing, while Shika just chuckled and Naji had a big-ass smirk on his face. "Ah, yeah. Good times."

* * *

><p><em>Sakura was bored. Like, <em>_**B-O-R-E-D**__ bored. Her dad had to go to some crappy business party, and since the last time he left her at home by herself she set the kitchen on fire – ("I was trying to make you dinner!") – She was forced to come with him._

_And now, stuck in some random garden of a person she'd never before seen in her life, Sakura contemplated whether it was possible to actually die of boredom. _

_That was until she saw two very young, very handsome guys. Sitting with their backs propped against a tree. In jeans. Leaning _**on**_ each other._

_**Woah.**_

_Now, Sakura was not the usual fourteen-year-old girl who'd run over and squeal and drool at the incredible hotness that radiated of the two, but she did pause in her tracks for a moment. _

_It was both, fortunate and unfortunate that one of them just had to notice her. His eyes were a pale lilac colour, unique and beautiful, and contrasted prettily with his hair. Now, Sakura would rather die than admit that she'd just thought that, and even she wasn't insane enough to walk up to a boy and tell him she found his eyes pretty. _

_Said eyes were currently attempting to glare a hole in her head. "Why are you staring?" he snapped. _

_Sakura found herself unable to answer. The harsh tone of his voice completely contradicted what his appearance suggested. Instead of smooth and soft, she was facing harsh and cold._

_After a minute, he snorted and turned his head away. "Annoying fangirl with stupid hair." He scowled._

_Suddenly, all the nice feelings and awe she felt for the boy evaporated and were replaced with annoyance and anger. _

_He did __**not**__ just go there._

_Without thinking, Sakura stalked right up to where the teen was sitting and stood before him. "Next time, before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes… And you're far away from kicking range." That said, she delivered a harsh kick to his shin and turned to walk off._

_However, before she could get even a meter away, a hand shot out and clasped around her wrist, tugging her back and into the other teen's side. _

"_Don't go. You've officially pissed off His Royal Majesty – which, by the way was a very stupid, but brave move – so he won't let you get away." He said, barely cracking one eye open to look at her. "Plus, if you keep annoying him, it'll keep him off my case."_

_Sakura blinked. Then blinked again. Did he just say that she should stay because then __**he**__ wouldn't have to deal with the Ice Bitch?_

"… _Can you get any lazier?" she asked incredulously._

"_I'm not lazy, I'm just highly motivated not to do anything." He replied, once again closing his eyes. _

_The pearl-eyes boy snorted, rubbing at his injured shin. Sakura, noticing that, made an apologetic sound. "Sorry. I shouldn't have kicked you like that. I just don't take well to criticism." She made a sheepish face. "I'm Haruno Sakura."_

_The boy glared at her for a little more, though not as intense as before. Finally, he answered. "Hn. Hyuuga Neji. And the lazy idiot there is Nara Shikamaru."_

"_Great!" Sakura exclaimed. Suddenly, soft snores reached their ears, and a mischievous look took over the rosette's face. She leaned closer to Neji with a cunning smirk, and whispered in his ear, sneaking a glance at Shikamaru's sleeping face every few seconds._

"_Do you happen to have a permanent marker?"_

_At the Hyuuga's questioning look, her smirk widened. "It'll teach him a lesson not to fall asleep on us."_

_Neji mirrored her smirk. "I like the way you think."_

* * *

><p><em>Even an idiot could guess that when Shikamaru awoke he wasn't all too pleased to find permanent-marker moustache and beard drawn on his face, or the prettily slanted cursive on his forehead 'Learned your lesson yet?'. He ground his teeth together in anger, but also amusement. <em>

_Standing up, he trudged to one of the staircases to where he heard Neji's frustrated yell come from. He needed an explanation. Neji had never gone out of his way to get revenge on the Nara when he'd fallen asleep on him. _

_As he opened the door to the guest room in which he predicted his companion was, he found him sitting in the company of the rosette they'd met earlier in the evening, playing Go Fish. With his hair braided. _

_He tried to unsuccessfully stifle a laugh, but failed miserably. His chuckling alerted the duo of his presence, and he fought to regain composure. When he felt he could speak without laughing or snorting at the glare Neji was so nicely directing at him, he pointed to his forehead._

"_Care to explain?"_

_There was a beat of silence, before bell-like giggles exploded from the rosette. She doubled over on the bed, tossing her cards to the floor, and desperately clutching at her stomach._

_Neji was wearing a similar smirk to that of a hungry predator. "Why don't you explain, hm, Shika?"_

_Shikamaru froze. Just how drunk was Neji? Never, in all of their five years of friendship, ever had Neji called him that. His eyes narrowed. No. Neji wasn't drunk, per se. This was revenge. _

"_Neji-dear, we owe him an explanation." Sakura piped up suddenly, standing up. She walked over to Shikamaru and stopped when she was right in front of him._

"_I'm sorry, but falling asleep while in company of others is rude. And don't blame Neji. I was the one that suggested it, he merely supplied me the weapon needed for our revenge."_

_The brunette's eyebrow rose further. Somehow, he doubted that the Hyuuga would willingly give a permanent marker to the obviously crazy pinkette. "Oh? And do __**you**__ know that it's rude to draw on somebody, then leave them out in plain view for everyone, especially his MP father to see?"_

_Sakura blinked. _

_Then proceeded to fall on her ass and roll on the floor, once again clutching his stomach, with tears of mirth flowing out of her eyes._

"_I-I'm sorry, b-but it's impossible to take you seriously with permanent moustache on your face!"_

_Shikamaru sighed and turned his gaze to Neji, hoping the elder teen will be more helpful._

"_Go get us three shot cups and some nice drinks and we can continue playing Go Fish. Unless you'd like to play something else?" he asks, and shoots the disgruntled Nara a come-hither look._

_Yep. Definitely intoxicated._

* * *

><p>Needless to say, it was considerably awkward the next day when a troubled Yoshino finally found her son after hours of searching. It seemed that the 'business party' had turned out to be more of a slumber party, after all the guests had consumed considerably too much whisky.<p>

But she never expected to find her son, with two other teens by his side, one of which was _male_, all in varying state of undress, _cuddling_.

Let's just say, Yoshino wasn't very happy, and Neji had never imagined such a fragile woman could shout **so** **damn** _**loud**_.

* * *

><p>"Oh dear…" Sakura muttered, wiping an imaginary tear from her eye. "That was priceless. We seriously need another get together like that. Maybe without your mum though, Shika, with all the respect."<p>

Shikamaru snorted. "Like she would care. She'd already vented out her frustration on Neji last time, I doubt she'd do it again."

"Still. For Neji's sake. We don't want our Royal Majesty to have a heart attack, do we?" she retorted playfully.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Meh. At least he wouldn't be able to bitch into my ear 24/7."

"Hm. Good point."

"_I'm still here you know!"_

The rosette turned to the Nara, her eyes pleading. The brunette shook his head.

_Oh shit…_

* * *

><p>Against all odds, her first day had turned out eventful. Who would've thought that so many people from her past would pop up in that school? Definitely not her.<p>

Still, there was one thought that kept nagging at her mind. Sasuke. Or rather, his brother. Because where one Uchiha was, the other wouldn't be too far away.

She'd learned that from Shisui and Madara…

But that's a story for another time.

* * *

><p><strong>So, how was it?<strong>

**Good?**

**Bad?**

**Pathetic?**

**Once again, I apologise for the enormous wait. I blame lack of multitasking, school, and my other story, which I'm currently trying to manage as well.**

**Hope this was OK, I promise the next one won't be far behing!**

**REVIEW!**


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